Neeraj Chopra to Compete at Asian Games, Defend Gold Medal

Neeraj Chopra (Image credit: X)

NEW DELHI: India's javelin star Neeraj Chopra will compete at the Asian Games in Japan later this year as he looks to defend his gold medal, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) selection committee chairman Adille Sumariwalla confirmed on Saturday. The two-time Olympic medallist has already confirmed his participation in the Commonwealth Games, and the AFI has now made it clear that he will also be part of India's campaign at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya from September 19 to October 4.

'He will participate in both'

Sumariwalla said Chopra has recovered well from the lower back injury that delayed the start of his 2026 season. "Yes. He (Chopra) will participate both in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. He has qualified already and he is recovering. He has done 86m (85.69m) in his very first event, which is fantastic," Sumariwalla told PTI. "He won a gold with 88m (in the 2022 Asian Games in China), so he is already close to 86m, then we see no reason why he will not do well in both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games."

Chopra made his season debut at the Doha Diamond League, where he finished fourth with a best throw of 85.69m after recovering from a lower back injury.

Tough challenge awaits

Chopra will head to Japan as the defending Asian Games champion after winning gold in Hangzhou in 2023 with a throw of 88.88m. The men's javelin event is expected to be highly competitive, with Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, who crossed the 90m mark earlier this year, among the leading contenders. Pakistan's Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem could also be in the field.

Focus on peaking at the right time

Sumariwalla said the AFI has left it to Chopra and his support staff to decide whether he needs another competition before the Commonwealth Games. "We have left it to him (about competition before CWG), we are saying his medical team, his coach, everyone will sit together and work out which are the best competitions he needs to compete," he said. "The important thing was for him to qualify, which he did. Now the important thing is how do we make him peak at the Commonwealth Games as well as in the Asian Games."

India hopeful of hosting World Championships

Sumariwalla also said India remains in the race to host either the 2029 or 2031 World Athletics Championships in Ahmedabad. The country has also bid to host the 2028 World U20 Championships. "We made bids to host both these championships in Ahmedabad. A team from World Athletics was there in Ahmedabad, along with the chair of the bid committee. They inspected the infrastructure, evaluated the transport, hotels, operations, weather, food, everything."

"It is a very tough competition, there is London which has hosted World Championships and Olympic Games, there is Munich that has also hosted the Olympic Games, there is Kenya which has done two Junior World Championships, so the fight is tremendous."

"We presented our best case scenario to them and let's wait and see what happens. A decision on the host city will be taken at a meeting after the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest (September 11-13)."

AFI confident ahead of Asian Games

Looking ahead to the Asian Games, Sumariwalla said the federation expects India to perform even better than in the previous edition. "From what we are seeing, things are going well, we should hopefully do better than we did last time."

"While the government has said those at sixth place and eighth place (for selection), we are taking those at third or fourth places in most events. Yet so many people have qualified, so it just shows the bench strength, it just shows that what AFI is doing is right, that the strategy of AFI is working and we are on the right path."